1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card adapter, connected to a ground, having a metallic cover member that covers a card inserting portion into which a card is inserted.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, each of card adapters typically comprise a card inserting portion, into which a card having an external terminal group exposed in a surface thereof is inserted, an adapter terminal group that is exposed in the interior and exterior of the card inserting portion and is brought into contact with the external terminal group of the card inserted into the card inserting portion, and a metallic cover member covering the card inserting portion and having a ground contacting portion which is brought into contact with a ground terminal of the adapter terminal group (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-40131).
In such conventional card adapters, the cover member is arranged so as to be opposite to a bottom plate of the card inserting portion and the ground contacting portion of the cover member is brought into contact with the ground terminal in the thickness direction of the card inserting portion, to connect the cover member to the ground.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional card adapters, because the ground contacting portion of the cover member is brought into contact with the ground terminal in the thickness direction of the card inserting portion, when a card is inserted into the card inserting portion, the cover member often floats to cause contact failure between the ground contacting portion and the ground terminal. Further, as a result of having contact failure between the cover member and the ground terminal, the cover member cannot be connected to the ground. Thus, it is difficult to protect the card and the card adapter from static electricity or the like.
Accordingly, the present invention is designed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a card adapter which is capable of preventing contact failure between a cover member and a ground terminal caused by the floating of the cover member when a card is inserted into a card inserting portion.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a card adapter which comprises a card inserting portion into which a card having an external terminal group exposed in a surface thereof is inserted, an adapter terminal group that is exposed in the interior and exterior of the card inserting portion and is brought into contact with the external terminal group of the card inserted into the card inserting portion, and a metallic cover member covering the card inserting portion and having a ground contacting portion which is brought into contact with a ground terminal of the adapter terminal group. In addition, the ground contacting portion is brought into contact with the ground terminal in a lengthwise direction of the card inserting portion.
According to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the ground contacting portion is brought into contact with the ground terminal in a lengthwise direction of the card inserting portion. For this reason, even when the cover member floats, the ground contacting portion is not separated from the ground terminal. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the contact failure between the cover member and the ground terminal caused by the floating of the cover member when the card is inserted into the card inserting portion.
In addition, according to the present invention, the ground terminal has a contacting surface facing a back-end surface of the card inserting portion, and the ground contacting portion is formed in a bent portion obtained by bending a front-end portion of the cover member. The ground contacting portion comprises a plate spring portion extending in a widthwise direction of the card inserting portion and bent in a lengthwise direction of the card inserting portion and a cantilever supporting portion for supporting the plate spring portion in a cantilever manner.
According to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to press the ground contacting portion against the contacting surface of the ground terminal to be brought into contact with each other through elastic force of the plate spring portion. As a result, it is possible to stabilize the contact of the ground contacting portion to the ground terminal. In addition, since the plate spring portion of the ground contacting portion is formed so as to extend in the widthwise direction of the card inserting portion, it is possible to provide elasticity to the ground contacting portion without enlarging the size of the ground contacting portion in the thickness direction of the card inserting portion.
In addition, according to the present invention, the card adapter further comprises locking means for locking the cover member in a frame portion by sliding the cover member in a lengthwise direction of the card inserting portion in a state where the cover member is arranged at a predetermined position of the frame portion which forms sidewalls of the card inserting portion.
According to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to easily assemble the cover member by the locking means.
In addition, according to the present invention, locating portions for locating the cover member in a thickness direction of the card inserting portion are formed in the cover member.
According to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the cover member can be accurately arranged at a predetermined position in a thickness direction of the card inserting portion by the locating portions. As a result, the ground contacting portion can be accurately arranged toward the ground terminal.
As described above, according to the present invention, even when the cover member floats, the ground contacting portion is not separated from the ground terminal. As a result, when a card is inserted into the card inserting portion, it is possible to prevent contact failure between the cover member and the ground terminal from occurring. Therefore, it is possible to protect the card and the card adapter from static electricity or the like.